Boarding School
by MageQueen
Summary: Max and the Flock are tired of being on the run. When they enrol in boarding school, aiming for a normal life, they find that fitting in isn't as easy as it sounds! When another unusual family meets them there, they find that perhaps Itex isn't the only enemy they need to worry about.
1. Chapter 1

**Max**

I stifle my scream with my fist, jerking upright. Fang is by my side in seconds, his arm around my shoulders. I take deep breaths, willing the dream to go away. It doesn't work, but I pretend it does, for the younger ones. They're stirring now – I've woken them up.

"Let's have some light," Fang tells me, and I nod. A fireball appears in my palm. It illuminates seven grubby faces – six of us; and Total, our talking, flying dog.

You might be a little confused. When we were young, scientists in a lab called The School grafted bird DNA into us … resulting in giving us wings, raptor vision, raptor hearing, and various powers. We escaped … they brought us back and experimented on us … we escaped … you get the picture. We're on the run at the moment.

"Dream?" Nudge asks me, her voice thick with sleep. It's the shortest sentence I've heard her say, ever. She's a motormouth. She can ramble on for hours on one subject.

I nod. I see Angel wince at my mental pictures: experiments, pain, whitecoats (this is our name for scientists), and erasers. I throw up a mental block so our mind reader won't have to see the residues of my dream.

"We're free now," asserts Gazzy, with the stoic comfort of an eleven-year-old boy.

I just nod again.

"You're turning into Fang," teases Iggy. He's our resident blind pyromaniac. I swear he can make a bomb from anything.

I roll my eyes, relaxing a little. Total jumps onto my lap and licks my face.

Suddenly all the sounds around us are magnified. I look sharply at Iggy, because one of his powers is control over sound.

He shrugs. "I thought we could use some warning if anyone was creeping up on us." His sightless eyes focus on the spot from where my voice came.

"Okay," I say. Then very quietly, "And thanks."

Everyone looks at me.

"Goodness, it must've been a _terrible_ dream," says Iggy, grinning. "The great Maximum saying thanks? Unheard of!"

"Shut up," I say, grinning back. He can hear the smile in my voice, or I wouldn't say it. I don't want him to misinterpret it as an unkind

"I'm tired of this," says Gazzy suddenly. "The running, the … just everything," he says.

"You know," I say, the fireball flaring with my excitement. "I think you're right. We should take a break. Be normal – well, as normal as we can be."

Nudge has been half-asleep, propped up on my other side, but she sits up at this. "You mean, like, get a house and go to school? That would be so cool! I hope we get a big house. Can I have my own room? I want it to be decorated in purple and mshgrr-"

Iggy's hand cuts her off mid-rant.

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Yeah, a house, and school." I grin. "Sound good?"

Fang, true to his nature, only nods, but the rest are almost shouting in excitement. I smile again.

"What about boarding school?" Angel asks.

I blink. "What?"

"It'd be easier," she says.

"It'd be _harder _to hide our wings," says Fang quietly.

"We could go to one with a cottage," says Nudge, "and do you think they'd let us decorate the cottage? Would there be cottages with enough rooms for all of us?"

"I don't know," I say. "We can find out."

"Okay, Max," everyone choruses.

"Let's try and get some more sleep before morning," Fang says. "I'd say it's around midnight. We'll get going at six."

I extinguish the fireball, and the camp lapses into silence once more.

* * *

In the morning, the others wake me up carefully. They know they could get a fist in the face if I'm surprised. Gazzy sends air swirling around me, brushing over me.

_Max, wake up, _Angel says inside my head.

I start upright. "What's going on? Are we under attack? Is it Erasers?"

The School creates these Erasers. They're human-wolf creatures, and very nasty. They're not smart, but their strength lies in numbers.

"Breakfast?" Fang asks me.

I relax and nod carefully. I notice Gazzy grinning at me, and look at him. "What?"

"It was funny," he says, "to see you freaked out. It's not very usual."

"It might've been necessary," I grumble, slightly embarrassed. I don't like looking stupid in front of Fang … I mean, in front of everyone. Angel grins, and I realise I've forgotten to put up mind blocks. I scowl at her. "Don't you say anything," I tell her.

She nods and laughs slightly.

I block my mind. Angel described mind blocks once from her point of view: "like rubbery walls. I can still tell that your mind is _there, _I just can't influence you or tell what you're thinking," and, needless to say, I was desperate to learn how to put up mind-blocks. It was partly to save myself some embarrassment, and partly in case we came across another mind reader. It was about a one in a million chance, but I insisted everyone learn.

I help myself to a rabbit, sitting down between Fang and Nudge. We eat a lot. We're not sure whether it's the bird DNA, or the exercise we get, but we never gain weight.

I sigh as I eat the rabbit. It's really good. I give a bone to Total.

"Thanks," he says, gnawing on it.

"School," says Nudge – an ambiguous statement with no inflection, but one that makes everyone sit up straighter.

"Let's go," says Gazzy, unfurling his wings and jumping up.

I've finished my rabbit, and Fang creates a hole and we dump the bones, skin and guts into it. He closes over the hole and smooths the earth. He snaps his fingers, and grass grows over it.

Oh yes: for those of you who are confused, Fang's powers are invisibility, control over earth and plants (as just demonstrated), and breathing underwater.

Maybe I should just make a list.

Okay:

**_The Flock_**

_Maximum (that's me): age 15 – Powers: super speed, control of fire, and breathing water._

_Fang: age 15 – Powers: invisibility, control of earth and plants, and breathing water._

_Iggy: age 15 – Powers: control of sound, breathing water, and enhanced hearing and smell._

_Nudge: age 13 – Powers: control of metal, and sensing emotions and thoughts of people who've touched what she's touching. _

_Gazzy: age 11 – Powers: farting toxic gas, and control of air/wind._

_Angel: age 9 – Powers: mind reading, mind control, control of water, breathing water, and talking to fish inc. sharks._

Understand? Good, 'cause I won't be explaining it again. I yawn and put the fire out. Grass grows in the ashes, and it looks as though we've never been here.

I take off my hoodie and unfurl my wings. Our shirts have slits in them specially. Total spreads his. Usually they're hid under his fur.

"Where are we going today?" asks Iggy. He pulls off his hoodie too.

"We're enrolling in boarding school," I say, and leap into the air.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N **Chapter two, without further ado

What a poet I am!

I don't own Maximum Ride or Twilight

~MQ

**Max**

I yawn, and grin as Total does too. Fang, flying beside me, smiles one of his rare smiles. I tuck my wings in and do a barrel roll, showing off.

"Nice," says Gazzy. When I look at him, he rolls his eyes. "I meant the sunset," he tells me.

I roll my eyes too, and Angel laughs.

"Max, I'm tired and hungry," says Nudge.

I sigh dramatically but begin to swoop down. "Iggy," I call, "we're landing."

"Thanks," he says.

"How are we meant to find a good boarding school?" asks Angel once we've landed.

"I don't know," I say. "We could ask Dr Martinez. She's helped us before."

"Your mum," Fang corrects softly. I look at him, and he squeezes my shoulder. "You may as well accept it."

I shrug. "I don't want to put them in danger."

He removes his hand. "You won't put them in any more danger by naming them for who they are: your family."

"Okay, okay," I grumble. "Gazzy, Iggy and Nudge, can you guys hunt? I'll make a fire now" – I gesture, and a fireball goes to float just off the ground in the middle of the clearing – "and Angel and Fang and I can work out where we are."

* * *

I knock carefully on the door, hoping that they're home, hoping that they're not … I'm not sure what to hope for.

The door opens. I'm hyperventilating. Fang puts a hand on my elbow; I think that he's sure I'll run off if he doesn't.

"Max!" squeals Ella, enveloping me in a hug. "Come in, come in! Just let me get Mum," she says, bouncing down the hall. We follow her.

* * *

"Here we are, folks," I announce in a dramatic accent as the car pulls up in front of our new school and we climb out.

"I would never have guessed," says Iggy sarcastically, "seeing as how we're getting out."

I glare at him – a wasted effort – as I open the boot and begin pulling out our bags. Dr Martinez – Mum – and Ella stay in the car with the heater. Admittedly it must be rather cold for humans, but we don't really feel temperatures.

"Where do we go?" I ask Angel. Yeah, you might think that's weird – the leader asking the youngest for advice – but when she's a mind reader the 'normal' doesn't happen very much. Angel concentrates for a minute, listening to what everyone around us is thinking, and then points to a building with a sign saying _Administration _on it.

Total coughs a laugh. "Max, use your eyes," he tells me. Then, "Hey, don't look at me," when I give him an exasperated stare.

Angel zips to my side. "There's six minds here that don't feel quite right," she tells us in a whisper. "Not Erasers, but they have the same kind of predatory feel. I can't get a proper read on their minds – they're partially blocked … like anything that's less than 90% human," she finishes even quieter. Everyone freezes.

I frown and pass Fang, Iggy and Nudge some of our bags. "Everyone keep an eye out and we'll stick together as much as possible," I say, and they unfreeze.

"I hope you're properly grateful," Gazzy tells Total as he pulls a couple of bags out by himself. "These are both full of food for you."

"I hate dog food," says Total, shuddering. "And you must admit, most of it's for you lot anyway."

Gazzy gives a defeated sigh and Total looks triumphant.

Mum and Ella get out and hug us. "Good luck. We'd stay and help you get settled," Mum says, "but I have to get back to the clinic."

I nod. "Thanks. Bye Ells. Bye Mum." I watch as they drive away.

"Let's go," says Fang softly.

Bags piled high in our arms, we stick in a group as I lead the way to _Administration._

"Total, no talking," I hear Nudge say.

"You're one to talk," mutters Fang, and I grin.

"I'm not stupid," Total protests. "Okay, let's rock this party."

"Maximum, Nick, James, Tiffany-Krystal, Zephyr and Ariel Ride," I announce. The lady behind the desk takes one look at us and her eyes widen. "Yes, I know we have a lot of bags," I say patiently, "so can you tell us where to go?"

"Sure," she stutters. "Follow me. Your – uh, foster-mother, especially asked if you could be put together in a cottage."

_Thank you, Mum, _I think as we make our way out the door. We attract attention – more than I'm comfortable with – as we walk across the school grounds. Whispers of 'new kids' and 'wow' and 'hot, aren't they' fly around. I grit my teeth and ignore them. I'm glad to walk up some steps onto a porch. The cottage looks nice – simple, but nice. Better than a muddy clearing, definitely. I grin.

"It's a twelve-person cottage," the lady says – her name is Mrs Stephens – as she produces a key for the door, "so there will be six others housing with you."

"Okay," I say. Six others … we can deal with that. It'll be easier than staying in dorms, anyway.

"Come in," she says, opening the door. Total trots in ahead of us. She gives him a funny look, but doesn't comment. I know already that we're allowed dogs. It was one of our requirements.

We follow her in. We put our luggage in the living rom, but Gazzy, who's been carrying the food, drops his bags in the kitchen. It's spacious and spotless, with an island bench and a nice big fridge. Iggy runs his hands over the benches and grins.

"I'll leave you to unpack," says Mrs Stephens kindly, passing me the key.

I nod my thanks and she leaves. I go after her to shut and lock the door. There's an open living room/dining room area, with a lovely open fireplace and a TV set in the wall above it. There's two couches in an 'L' shape, with a coffee table between them. A couple of nice big armchairs sit away to the side, perfect for curling up in. There's a fancy-looking stereo in a corner. I smile.

The others have joined me by this stage, gazing at the cosy room as if it was a five star hotel. I hear Gazzy quietly describing everything to Iggy, and I smile.

"Who wants a fire? We can toast marshmallows before bed," I say. When everyone nods or grins, I flick my fingers and a tongue of flame appears in between my thumb and forefinger. I blow on it, and it flies to where someone has arranged a fire in the grate.

"Bedrooms?" asks Iggy.

I see Nudge look at him, then away, and – get this – she blushes. I raise an eyebrow, but don't comment. I'd thought that Nudge had been unusually silent lately, and now I think I know what's bothering her. I make a mental note to talk to her later.

We leave the living room and find a hallway with three doors on each side. All the doors on one side – our left, incidentally – are locked, so I assume that the other six people we have to share this place with inhabit these.

I open the closest door. There's two beds per room, it seems, and an en-suite for each.

"Ange, can we share?" asks Nudge. When Angel nods, Nudge squeals. "Great! I'll have this bed, and we can share the closet …" Her voice trails off as she and Angel go to get their bags.

"Iggy and I'll share," says Gazzy.

I guess that leaves me with … Fang. We look at each other, and he raises an eyebrow. This is … awkward, to say the least. I roll my eyes. "Whatever. I'll get my bags." I stalk off. I swear I hear him chuckling as I hoist my bag onto my back.

* * *

"Iggy, you've truly outdone yourself," I say in a posh tone as I shovel the delicious pasta into my mouth. "I appoint you Official Head Cook of this cottage."

"I thought he already was," jokes Gazzy, helping himself to thirds.

"That was unofficial," Nudge says. "Now that you're Official Head Cook, can you make us nice deserts? Ooh, we should have Pavlova sometime. I heard that it's really nice and creamy. Do you think we should have it with strawberries or raspberries? I like strawberries better, but maybe they wouldn't go with the cream. Ooh, we should –" She's cut off by Angel's hand slapping the table for silence and attention.

"Shh. There's people coming. Well, I'm not sure if they're people… The six different minds apparently belong to the people we share this cottage with."

"Oh, wonderful," I say, gritting my teeth. "Well, act normal, shield your minds just in case, keep your wings in tight, and be ready to fight."

They all nod. Nudge starts chattering, but I tune her out, listening instead for the noise of footsteps on the porch. It doesn't come, but I hear the door open. These people must be very quiet. I'm tense in my seat, every nerve on edge. A hand on my shoulder almost makes me jump to my feet, but it belongs to Fang. "Calm down," he mutters only loud enough for me. I make myself relax and he removes his hand.

The people are in the entryway now, talking and laughing. Their voices sound like wind chimes.

Then one voice rises above the rest: "Emmett, _what _is that awful smell?"

**A/N **So, we're about to meet their new boarding buddies. And what an insult for poor Iggy's cooking!

Please review - ideas, criticism and praise all very welcome :)

~ MQ


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N **I'm back!

Thanks to magiclover13 for your reviews and support :)

I don't own Maximum Ride or Twilight

~MQ

* * *

**Max**

"It's pasta, Rose," comes the reply. The voices are suddenly deathly quiet.

A model-like blonde stalks in the dining room door, looking like the ultimate ideal of graceful. She's pale, and inhumanly beautiful. "Oh, joy, our house-mates have arrived," she says sarcastically, taking us in with a quick glance.

"I rather think _we're _the unlucky ones," I say to the others, and they laugh – or, in Fang's case, smile slightly.

The blonde scowls, and wrinkles her nose at the delicious pasta. "Who made that?"

"Our Official Head Cook," jokes Gazzy.

Behind the blonde stand five others, who I didn't notice before. A big, muscly, intimidating, dark-haired man who has his arm around the grumpy blonde's shoulders; a brunette girl and a bronze-haired guy who stand with linked hands; and an 'opposites' pair – a tall, lean, blond guy who looks like he has _bite _scars all over him (I freeze when I see this) and a tiny, grinning pixie. I stand up, and the rest of the flock do too.

We regard each other in silence.

"So, are we going to introduce ourselves? Or shall we just continue to stand in awkward silence?" jokes the pixie.

"Why don't we move to the living room?" suggests the mediocre-looking brunette girl.

I sigh, and gesture for them to go first. There's no way I'll have them behind me.

Once we're seated on the couches, I raise my eyebrows for them to go first.

"I'm Alice," says the hyper pixie. "And this is Jazz – Jasper," she adds, elbowing the bitten one. "That's Emmett," – the muscly one – "Rosalie," – the snotty blonde – "Edward," – the bronze-haired guy, who's looking at me in frustration – "and Bella," she finishes, pointing to the quiet brunette.

"I'm Max," I say.

"Nick," says our one-word-per-sentence expert.

"I'm James," Iggy announces. "And I'm the Official Head Cook, and I'll thank you not to insult my excellent cooking."

"I don't mean to be rude," says Bella, "but … your eyes … are you blind?"

"Yes," says Iggy shortly.

"And you cook?" asks Rosalie, who is really starting to annoy me.

"Yes," repeats Iggy.

"Excuse _me,_" Rosalie mutters, and I smile slightly.

"I'm Tiffany-Krystal, but you can call me Tiff," says Nudge, and has just opened her mouth to keep going when Gazzy puts his hand over it.

"If she starts, she'll never stop," he explains. "I'm Zephyr."

"And I'm Ariel," says Angel.

There's complete silence, except for Bella and Edward muttering about _reading nothing. _What's the point in talking about that?

_Angel, get us out of here please, _I think to her.

_Seriously, Max?_

_I don't like them._

_You owe me, _she grumbles, but I can feel the underlying agreement.

"Max, I'm tired," she says, yawning. "Can we go to bed now?"

"Sure. Let's go." We get up. "Good night," I say stiffly to our 'friends'.

"You've had a big day, huh?" asks Emmett condescendingly.

"Exceedingly," I say with an exaggerated yawn.

He rolls his eyes, and I roll mine back, and as I leave I can't help thinking that maybe Emmett isn't so bad as I thought.

We reconvene in Angel and Nudge's room. Iggy blocks the sound, and we're free to talk.

"What was your impression, Angel? Did you get _anything_?"

"Well, Emmett's mind is the most open. He was thinking when Alice was talking, '_man, they smell weird_,' and '_Rose has such a nice name_'," – we all laugh – "and when we were talking he thought, '_I think they're lying. Why would they lie about their names?_' and stuff like that. Alice's head was full of blurry pictures. Edward's was full of echoes. Rose is so full of herself, I swear that's all she thinks about. I couldn't get anything from Bella, and Jasper's thoughts were occupied with Alice."

"Okay, everyone work on saying your fake name so it sounds convincingly real," I say. "Anything else, anyone?"

"Alice has really nice style. Bella looks boring. They're all so beautiful. Like, Eraser-beautiful," says Nudge.

"They haven't attacked us yet," says Iggy. "We don't have to move, do we?"

I consider this. "Just be careful. And goodnight," I add, slipping out of the room with the boys.

"We forgot the marshmallows," says Gazzy abruptly.

"What?" I ask, caught off guard.

"You said we could toast marshmallows. But we forgot, what with our lovely friends turning up," clarifies Iggy.

I sigh. "Tomorrow," I promise.

"We'd better do the dishes," Fang mutters. I nod and follow him into the dining room to see our plates have vanished.

"I'm cleaning for you tonight," says Alice, poking her head in from the kitchen. "Sleep well!"

I raise my eyebrows, smile slightly despite myself, and echo her well wishes. Wow, I'm sounding really old fashioned – who says 'well wishes' anymore?!

Fang nods to her and we leave.

"Chatty, isn't he," I hear Alice comment to someone, and Jasper's distinctive voice chuckles.

"We can set a curtain up between the beds," I say when we reach our door. "If you're uncomfortable," I add, not wanting to seem weak or girly or whatever.

He rolls his eyes. "Just go to bed Max," he says. I nod and pick up my pyjamas, - I know, I'm shocked too; Mum bought us all some – and go to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth.

When I get back, Fang is already asleep – or if he's not, he pretends very well. He looks sweet, like I never thought Fang would, with his hair tumbling over his closed eyes. I slip between the sheets and flick off the light. "Goodnight," I whisper.

* * *

In the morning I wake up and see Fang, awake, watching me. "Hello," he says.

I blink. I'm not at my best in the morning.

Suddenly someone pounds on the door. "Come on, school starts in half an hour," says Nudge.

"Damn, I forgot," I say, jumping out of bed. "Tell I – _James_ that he'd better have breakfast ready when I come out," I tell Nudge.

"It's already ready." I hear footsteps go down the hall. "Thank goodness there's no uniform," I mutter as I pick up some jeans and a shirt. I let Fang have the bathroom this time, and pull on my bra and undies quickly. The skinny jeans give me some trouble, though, and I have just begun to thread my belt through the belt-loops when Fang walks out, ready to go.

"Ah!" I jump a bit, I'm ashamed to say. He turns away, his cheeks tinged with pink. I pull my shirt over my head – it's red, and says _Carpe Diem _– and say, "I'm decent."

"Finally," mutters Fang, turning around again and picking up his shoes.

I jam my feet into my combat boots and roll my eyes.

We scarf down pancakes. Our six other friends look mildly disgusted. It's either the food or our eating habits.

"Okay, gang, let's go. Seize the day," I tell them all, referring to my shirt. We stand up, dump our plates in the kitchen sink, and head to the door. "Ariel and Zephyr, you're in the same year – year four. Mum decided you knew about the same amount," I tease Gazzy. He looks offended, and Angel grins. "Year four," I repeat, "so Zephyr, you've dropped one, Ariel, you've moved up. James and Nick are with me in year nine. Tiff, you're on your own in year seven. Call Ariel if you need help."

We stroll across the campus. Angel gives us discreet directions, then eventually stops. "Okay, Gazz, you and me go that way to the junior school."

"See you at lunch," I say, and we keep going. We jump up the steps – come on, it's fun – and go into _Administration_ again.

"Can we have our schedules please?" I ask.

Mrs Stephens hands them to us wordlessly.

We thank her and head for the main building.

"Okay, folks, welcome to Hell. Fasten all seatbelts and enjoy the Ride," I say, and push open the doors.

* * *

**A/N **The chapters are all quite short because I'm aiming to upload one per day, so ... forgive me?

Thanks guys!

~MQ


	4. AN

Hey folks - this isn't a chapter, it's an apology.

I've been in hospital, sick, since Sunday ... so sorry for not updating. Forgive me ... please?

Thanks for the reviews :)

I feel really bad (as in guilty bad - I feel sick bad too though), so I'll try and make the next chapter a long one. It should be up in a few hours, depending on what happens.

Ok, Magequeen out :) xxx


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone

First off, thank you for all your comments. They always cheer me up.

Secondly, while I'd love to continue writing, I need to focus on my schoolwork. I have to catch up on 3 terms' worth of work _and_ keep up with what's happening now.

In other words, I am officially stopping this story. If anyone is interested in taking over on it, please contact me by PM.

Thanks

MageQueen


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